The Adventure of a Lifetime
by JinxKid1
Summary: Jenna, Septimus, and Beetle are out on an ordinary picnic. The day is nice and all is well, until Jenna finds an unusual hole in the ground. The trio is transported to who knows where and must survive long enough to find a way home.
1. Chapter 1

Life was, for once, quite in the Castle. A soft summer breeze whispered through the streets and into open shop doors. Birdsong filled the air, along with the scents and sounds of usual Castle life. The ExtraOrdinary Apprentice walked peacefully down a narrow lane, enjoying the nice weather, on his way to meet the Queen for lunch. As he passed the closed door of the Manuscriptorium, he felt bad for the poor, cooped-up scribes and decided he and Jenna would make a stop back there before they left.

Inside the Manuscriptorium, the Chief Hermetic Scribe looked longingly out the window at Septimus's passing. The door had to remain shut so the papers didn't blow away, but outside was too nice to be stuck inside, no matter how much he loved doing his job. Beetle could tell the rest of his scribes felt the same, but didn't complain. For that he was very grateful. Maybe he would close up a bit early today to let everyone enjoy the day. Either way, they had to stay at least until lunch. Beetle sighed and went back to work.

Jenna ran into the kitchen of the palace. On the counter, a wicker basket containing a picnic lunch rested. The Queen grabbed the basket and rushed out onto the lawns. On her way, she bumped into Sarah Heap.

"Thanks for the picnic, Mum!" she hugged Sarah.

"Anytime, sweetie," Sarah smiled and walked inside.

Jenna stood waiting for Septimus to reach the Palace. She shifted her weight, bouncing foot to foot in impatience. She was just about to go find that dratted brother of hers when she saw his unmistakable green robes and straw-colored hair come into view.

"Hello, Jen!" Septimus called out to her as he walked closer.

"Hey, Sep!" Jenna hurried out to greet him. "I'm glad to see Marcia let you come today." She nestled the basket comfortably in the crook of her arm.

"I was actually afraid she wouldn't let me at first. She gave in eventually," he smiled. The ExtraOrdinary Apprentice and the Queen walked step in step, retracing the path Septimus had taken to meet up with Jenna. "Hey, I was thinking we could ask if Beetle would like to join us today. What do you think?"

"Oh, that's a lovely idea, Sep!" the Queen replied happily. The two made their way to the Manuscriptorium.

Upon their arrival, Septimus pushed through the door, greeted by the light tinkle of a bell. Jenna followed him closely. The pair walked up to Beetle's desk where he, immersed in his work, had not yet noticed his friends walk in.

"Wotcha, Beet!" Septimus greeted his best friend. Beetle's head snapped up at the sound of Septimus's voice. A grin spread quickly across his face.

"Wotcha, Sep!" Beetle returned the greeting. "Hello, Jenna," he added somewhat shyly.

"Hello, Beetle," Jenna replied. She propped her elbows up on his desk opposite of him. "Sep and I are going to go eat lunch a little ways into the forest. Wanna come?"

"Yeah, I'd love to!" Beetle stood up, thrilled to be spending the afternoon with his best friends, and having an excuse to get out of work early. "Scribes, go out and enjoy the day!" he announced. "I'm closing up shop!" The rest of the staff cheered and began to pack up. The Chief Hermetic Scribe piled the parchments he was working on into a neat stack on his desk.

"Hey Foxo, would you mind closing up once everyone's gone?" he addressed a tall, lanky scribe passing near the back.

"No problem, Chief," Foxy promised. Beetle thanked him, and, placing a hand on each of his friends' shoulders, he propelled them out the door.

The trio made their way out the gate and onto a path that led into the forest. Jenna and Septimus both knew of a lightly wooded place that would be a nice spot to spend a beautiful afternoon such as this. As they reached their intended destination, Beetle took in his new surroundings. A slight ways within the woods was a near-circular clearing surrounded by trees. Sunlight filtered through the treetop canopy, which was still thin, and settled on the soft grass below. The setting was very peaceful and pleasant.

Septimus, Beetle, and Jenna sat down on the grass and Septimus started handing out neatly wrapped sandwiches from the basket. After everyone had one, he looked in disbelief at the remaining basket contents.

"How much does Mum think we can eat?" he asked Jenna. She and Beetle looked in the picnic basket and laughed. It was filled almost to the brim with more sandwiches and other food, even after they each took their lunch.

The friends talked and ate for a long while. Jenna finished before the two boys and decided to go walk off at least _some_ of the vast quantities of food she just ate. Getting up, she excused herself and walked off through the trees. Before long, she came upon something that rather surprised her.

"Sep! Beetle! Come here!" the two boys in question stopped their conversation (which had turned to the time Jillie Djinn had met Spit Fyre for the first time) abruptly, and giving each other one final wide-eyed glance, stood and raced off in the direction of Jenna's call. She had sounded quite uneasy, which was not a good sign in the forest. Beetle grabbed the food basket before he left. You never know when that could be useful.

"Look at that, Sep," the Queen pointed to a jagged gap in the ground. It looked dark, and just wide enough that she could climb in it if she wanted. Not that she wanted to, of course. "That was never there before!"

"Really, Jen? You got us all worked up over a hole in the ground?" Septimus asked incredulously.

"Jenna, I'm sure everything's perfectly fine," Beetle tried to reassure her. "These things happen all the time."

"But..." Jenna tried to put into words what felt so wrong about this particular crevice. "I feel...heavy near it. Abnormally heavy. Like it's pulling on me."

"That's impossible!" the ExtraOrdinary Apprentice scoffed. "There's no way that hole is pulling on you!" His mind was made up on the subject, but Beetle took in the situation thoughtfully.

"Hold on, Sep. Look at her hair. And her cloak," he told his friend. "They're moving as if blown by wind. But the wind shouldn't be blowing in that direction," Beetle looked puzzled.

"Yeah, I guess you're right!" Septimus realized. "And that doesn't look like wind anyway. It has more of a pull to it."

Sure enough, Jenna's cloak and hair were being pulled outward and down. Suddenly, the pull became much stronger. Too strong. With a gasp, she, caught off guard, began to tumble into the crevice in the ground. In a last effort to stay upright, Jenna grabbed the sleeve of the person closest to her, which happened to be Septimus. Septimus, joined by Beetle, who grabbed his friend's arm, exerted as much force in the opposite direction as he could. But the pull seemed to be getting stronger. Finally, it was too great for the three friends (and their picnic basket). The three of them fell into the crack, one after another.

_Why haven't we hit the bottom yet? And why is it so cold? _Jenna's last thoughts before all three of the friends lost consciousness and were enveloped by blackness.


	2. Chapter 2

"Ugh..." Jenna awoke with a groan. She didn't open her eyes yet; the light was too bright and hurt her eyes. To her left, she heard Septimus mumble something, but was unable to tell what he said as his voice seemed constricted. Whether this was because of something covering his face, or just her hearing protesting whatever just happened to them, she did not know.

"What was that, Sep?" she asked, still without opening her eyes.

Jenna felt her left foot being moved. "I said, get your foot off my face, Jen!"

Finally, Jenna sat up and opened her eyes to the world. "Sorry about that," she apologized to Septimus. Beside them, Beetle was just beginning to stir as well.

"Mmmmph," he awoke, smacking his lips as he sat up. "Mornin', guys. Where are we?"

Septimus looked around. His gaze ran over the surrounding area, taking in the new setting. They were on the edge of a densely-wooded oak forest, laying just on the edge of a grassy meadow. None of it looked familiar. He had never seen anything like it before. The flowers in the meadow were all wrong; he couldn't identify a single one of them.

"I honestly don't know," Septimus murmured, to himself as much as to Beetle. The trio remained sitting on the dusty ground for some time just taking in the new scenery.

* * *

At the Castle, the sun was just beginning to set. The wonderful day was coming to an end, but there was still no sign of the Queen, the Chief Hermetic Scribe, and the ExtraOrdinary Apprentice returning. The first two were not missed much as most people figured the group had been having fun and were just a little late, but back at the Wizard Tower, a certain ExtraOrdinary Wizard was beginning to panic.

Purple python boots paced back and forth across the floor. The rhythmic clicking of their heels echoed around the room, only agitating Marcia more. Finally she snapped. Without a word, Marcia spun around, purple cloak whooshing out behind her, and stalked off down the enchanted stairs and toward the Castle.

Upon reaching her destination, she barged her way into the sitting room where Sarah was resting, attending to Ethel.

"Have you seen Septimus lately?" Marcia demanded before Sarah could utter as much as a greeting.

"No, I haven't," Sarah looked confused. "Jenna went off to meet him earlier today. Did she not find him?"

"I think it's safe to assume she did, or she would've come back. But don't you think they should be home by now?" Marcia wrung her hands, obviously distressed. Sarah couldn't figure out what the ExtraOrdinary Wizard was so worked up over.

"It was such a lovely day today. You can't blame them for wanting to stay out later. I'm sure they were just having fun and decided to make the most of their time off. You know how busy they get," Sarah did her best to sooth Marcia. She reached her hand out and placed it comfortingly on the other woman's shoulder.

With a responding swish of her cloak, Marcia tore away from the calming gesture. "Fine. I'll go ask Beetle if he's seen them."

Sarah gave a halfhearted wave, perplexed, as Marcia stormed back out the way she came. That Wizard was slowly but surely losing her mind. She shook her head and went back to stroking Ethel in a peaceful silence.

Marcia made her way to the Manuscriptorium. The door was closed and the windows dark, but she pushed her way in anyway. She figured Beetle wouldn't mind her intruding. It wasn't too late yet.

"Beetle? Beetle!" she shouted. Her calls bounced around the Manuscriptorium, unanswered. Marcia made her way to the Chief Hermetic Scribe's quarters. She pounded on the door, wondering where Beetle could possibly be. After receiving no answer for a few minutes, she gave up.

Marcia walked out of the Manuscriptorium completely perplexed. She couldn't figure out where everyone had got to. Suddenly, she spotted Romilly Badger walking past. Maybe she knew where Beetle went. She walked up and rested her hand on Romilly's shoulder to get her attention.

"Ah!" Romilly squeaked, shocked, as she turned around. "Oh, I'm sorry, Marcia. You shocked me!"

"That's quite alright, Romilly. I apologize for spooking you. Now, would you mind telling me where Beetle is?"

"Beetle? Oh, he left with Septimus and Queen Jenna earlier today. Are they not back yet?"

"No, I'm afraid they're not," Marcia sighed. Another person not back. "Thank you for your time, Miss Badger. Carry on."

"Oh. Okay," Romilly gave the retreating ExtraOrdinary a funny look. Then she shrugged. She had surely seen weirder behavior around this Castle. Romilly went about the rest of her night peacefully.

Back in her rooms, Marcia stewed quietly. Three of the most important people in the Castle were missing. They'd gone out to the forest for lunch. The forest, of all places to be missing! Marcia rubbed her temples. Was it just her, or did Septimus and Jenna just seem to attract trouble? And poor Beetle, always getting thrown right in the midst of the turmoil.

* * *

**A/N: Well, there's kind of a short chapter. It's more filler than anything. But I have an important question. In the reviews of the first chapter, it was asked if the trio was dumped in our world. I hadn't planned on that happening, but I like the idea. So, tell me your thoughts on this! **


End file.
